Page 59 of Inside the Penalty Box

“Mom, it’s fine. You did nothing wrong. Dylan knows he knows. He says he doesn’t care what his father says.”

“He should. He told me he would force Dylan to break things off with you. If he didn’t do as he wanted, then he would put an end to it. After you left, he told me to tell you not to bother coming back to the house until I made sure you understood you weren’t to have any more relations with Dylan.

She blew her nose into the tissues she was holding and looked at me with red, puffy eyes. I passed her the box to take a few more tissues so she could wipe the tears that had fallen again.

“Mom…” I said, patting her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

“It’s okay, Aurora. I’ll be fine,” she said, straightening her back and sitting up taller. “What I won’t have happen is someone to tear about two people who are clearly in love.”

“Mom, you don’t have to do that.”

My mom blew her nose again, wiped the tears, and then met my eyes. She took hold of my hand and softly smiled for the first time since I’d picked her up. “Aurora, I’ve never been that good of a mother to either you or Walker, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start now.”

“Mom, you have. We never went without.”

“That is true, but you went without me. I was absent most of your life. I mean, you’d rather call me Penelope than Mom. That is saying something.”

“I call you that because that is what you said you preferred.”

“Well, okay, fine, that is true. However, this is what I’d prefer. I’m going to sacrifice this relationship for you. I’m leaving Joe. You deserve to have the best, and I’ve never seen you so confused over someone before that you’d actually ask me for advice. So, if it’s okay, I’ll stay here for a few days until I can get my things from Joe’s and find a place of my own. I’ll get looking right away.”

I looked at Lorelai, not sure what to think. Like me, she looked just as confused, and she just shrugged again. I’d thought everything was fine between my mother and Joe, and I’d never have thought she’d give up something like that for me.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll grab some blankets, and we will pull out the hideaway bed.”

She picked up her tea and took a sip, then took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie and sat back on the couch.

* * *

“It’s like the twilight zone, Walker. Mom is a mess.”

My brother had called twenty minutes ago in a panic after receiving a call from Mom. She’d shut her phone off after I’d talked to her in case Joe was trying to call. When Walker couldn’t get through, he called me.

“I know. She sounded gutted on the phone. What happened?”

“Mom said she is leaving Joe,” I whispered into the mouthpiece, hoping that by now she was asleep. I didn’t want her to overhear my conversation and get all upset again.

“Why?”

“I guess she told Joe about Dylan and I. Joe got angry, said I was a whore and wasn’t welcome at the house any longer until we’d broken it off.”

“I see,” Walker replied.

“Mom said she feels bad that she was absent most of my life. That I’d rather call her Penelope than Mom, and I guess she wants to change that. She said she wants to make up for being absent most of our lives, and the way to do that is for her to sacrifice so that Dylan and I can be together. So, she is giving up her relationship with him for me.” I sighed, still feeling horrible that she’d felt it necessary to give up on a relationship that was good for her.

“Well, Aurora, you can’t stop her. I mean, maybe on the outside we think it was good for her, but perhaps there were things we didn’t see.”

Leave it to my brother to be the voice of reason when I’d rather mentally kick myself for causing her unhappiness.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe Joe isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be. I mean, most of the time I was there, I felt like he was putting on a show. There was just something about him I didn’t like. He was almost too kind, too accommodating for my liking.”

I thought back to what he was saying and could see where he was coming from. It was true. He was too nice, too accommodating, especially with us and my mother. Well, he wasn’t so nice to Dylan the other night though. I’d heard him yelling from the office.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this is the reason Mom has been waiting for.”

“I think so. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but whatever you do, be careful with Dylan.”

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